James O'Brien

Hockey Daily Dose

Impact of Pekka Rinne's deal

What’s the best way to make fans of a small market team feel better after you sign a huge, risky contract? Try earning a 35-save shutout.

That’s exactly what Pekka Rinne did on Thursday night. He blanked the Phoenix Coyotes just hours after the hockey world found out that the Nashville Predators inked him to a jaw-dropping 7-year, $49 million deal.

In the long term, it’s still a big gamble of a contract. The term is scary (though not Rick DiPietro-bad) and his annual average salary sets a new ceiling for NHL netminders. Of course, the long-term issue – something relevant to keeper league owners – is that the hefty contract will make it tougher for the Predators to keep their dynamic defensive duo of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. (The short-term concern is that Rinne will lose the motivation that comes from a contract year, but that’s something that probably means a lot more to me than just about anyone else.)

From the Predators’ perspective, that long-term deal is scary, but for fantasy owners, it should just be a wash. Possibly losing a high-end free agent defenseman (or two) could make him more vulnerable, but staying in the nurturing Nashville atmosphere should allow him to be a franchise guy for quite some time.

THE BULIN WALL REMAINS STURDY

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to discount Nikolai Khabibulin and the Edmonton Oilers. He earned his second shutout of the season to bring his record to 6-0-2 and drop his GAA under 1 (.98) with an outstanding .963 save percentage.

He’s not just doing it alone in every game, either. The Oilers held the Los Angeles Kings to just 19 shots, so maybe Khabibulin will get some solid defensive support every now and then.

Not a whole lot of people outside of Edmonton predicted such a hot streak for the Oil, but if you decided to jump on the bandwagon with “The Bulin Wall,” then ride that as far as you can.

ONDREJ LOOKS GIGANTIC

Ondrej Pavelec has a lot riding on the 2011-12 season. The 24-year-old goalie will be a restricted free agent next summer and he has a long way to go before he convinces the Winnipeg Jets (or any of the other 29 teams) that he’s a franchise guy. Pavelec hasn’t done so consistently yet, but Thursday was an example of his flashes of brilliance: he stopped all 34 of the New York Islanders’ shots.

What’s the best way to make fans of a small market team feel better after you sign a huge, risky contract? Try earning a 35-save shutout.

That’s exactly what Pekka Rinne did on Thursday night. He blanked the Phoenix Coyotes just hours after the hockey world found out that the Nashville Predators inked him to a jaw-dropping 7-year, $49 million deal.

In the long term, it’s still a big gamble of a contract. The term is scary (though not Rick DiPietro-bad) and his annual average salary sets a new ceiling for NHL netminders. Of course, the long-term issue – something relevant to keeper league owners – is that the hefty contract will make it tougher for the Predators to keep their dynamic defensive duo of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. (The short-term concern is that Rinne will lose the motivation that comes from a contract year, but that’s something that probably means a lot more to me than just about anyone else.)

From the Predators’ perspective, that long-term deal is scary, but for fantasy owners, it should just be a wash. Possibly losing a high-end free agent defenseman (or two) could make him more vulnerable, but staying in the nurturing Nashville atmosphere should allow him to be a franchise guy for quite some time.

THE BULIN WALL REMAINS STURDY

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to discount Nikolai Khabibulin and the Edmonton Oilers. He earned his second shutout of the season to bring his record to 6-0-2 and drop his GAA under 1 (.98) with an outstanding .963 save percentage.

He’s not just doing it alone in every game, either. The Oilers held the Los Angeles Kings to just 19 shots, so maybe Khabibulin will get some solid defensive support every now and then.

Not a whole lot of people outside of Edmonton predicted such a hot streak for the Oil, but if you decided to jump on the bandwagon with “The Bulin Wall,” then ride that as far as you can.

ONDREJ LOOKS GIGANTIC

Ondrej Pavelec has a lot riding on the 2011-12 season. The 24-year-old goalie will be a restricted free agent next summer and he has a long way to go before he convinces the Winnipeg Jets (or any of the other 29 teams) that he’s a franchise guy. Pavelec hasn’t done so consistently yet, but Thursday was an example of his flashes of brilliance: he stopped all 34 of the New York Islanders’ shots.

A SHORT BOB

These situations can be fluid, but for now, Sergei Bobrovsky is a great option for spot starts. If you take out that inane Jets game, he’s been solid in his 3 other appearances in 2011-12. He stopped 36 shots in a shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils (who enjoyed another Johan Hedberg win, by the way). Keep an eye on Bob as Ilya Bryzgalov struggles to adjust to Philadelphia and the media attention that comes with his job.

MASON OFF

There’s not much else one can say about Steve Mason other than “I hope you didn’t use a good draft pick on him.” He didn’t even make it through half of Thursday’s loss to the Leafs, as he allowed 4 goals on 11 shots. If you’ve managed to maintain your patience through this ordeal and keep him on your team, it might be best just to park him on the bench until the Blue Jackets start to get their acts together. (Perhaps I should say "if" Columbus gets things back together.)

QUICK HITS

Clarke MacArthur scored 2 goals on Thursday to push his points total to 8 in 10 games, which indicates that he might be able to maintain his impressive pace with the Maple Leafs from last season … Speaking of Toronto, just about every goalie wearing that jersey has been successful so far. Ben Scrivens stopped 38 pucks to win his NHL debut, but it’s best not to jump on that bandwagon just yet … Jarome Iginla scored 2 goals, which should hearten those who are wise enough to remember that Iggy is a slow starter … Josh Harding earned a win in a battle of backups with Cory Schneider, but the Canucks backup was still strong with 40 saves … Claude Giroux scored 1 goal to push his season total to 17 points, second best in the NHL … Corey Crawford has been solid basically all season long; he improved to 6-2-2 on the season and is clearly the mainstay in Chicago. (That’s not a bad team to be the franchise guy for, after all.)

SUSPENSION WATCH

Patrick Kaleta received a four-game suspension for his head-butt on Philadelphia Flyers winger Jakub Voracek. The rugged forward brings PIM to the table, but he needs to top his previous career-high of games played (55) before he’s more than a passing interest in fantasy … Cal Clutterbuck obviously didn’t mean it, but he still punched an official during a scrum. It’s quite possible that it will be deemed accidental and that no discipline will happen, but we’ll have to see. Clutterbuck is a great option in hits leagues, especially as his offensive role keeps growing. Missing some time and gaining a “reputation” won’t help matters, though.

INJURY SNIPES

Jeff Carter isn’t expected to play against Philly, which should really ruin a lot of “Dry Island” jokes … There’s no timetable for Daniel Alfredsson’s return; he’s likely dealing with concussion issues from that Wojtek Wolski hit … James Van Riemsdyk is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, which kept him out of the Flyers’ loss against the Devils. Obviously Philly hopes to get its budding power forward back soon enough. (Click here for the full injury list.)